Testing the power of experimentation
Through Optimizely’s platform, The Rank Group not only minimised the risk of customers developing gambling problems but also enhanced the user experience through reviewing other customer journeys on its site. Before Optimizely, the team had launched a total of 100 tests, including 15 running on each brand at any one time, using a previous platform. This has now significantly increased, with the team having launched 150 tests in just the last six months. These range from very complex retargeting and cross sell activities to simple tasks such as colour changes, or changing the calls to action on the site. For example, by testing three different colour variations with the Deposit button, the green version was picked after successfully increasing clicks by 14 percent.
Prior to working with Optimizely, the company rarely tested out smaller changes as the process took the same amount of time to do something small as it did to change a complex test. As a result, complex tasks were prioritised and the positive cumulative impact of constant, small tweaks were missed. A good example of the impact this change has made is when the company recently tested a daily live jackpot countdown which helped drive 134% in game launches from that particular feed. Now, the company can go from the initial idea to building the test in a matter of a few hours, meaning that The Rank Group never misses out on a quick win.
As the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, the company also faced the challenge of how it could continue to interact with customers in a way that suits their wishes. The team experimented with the preference options in an attempt to re-engage customers. The Rank Group trialled a pop-up on the website asking people about their marketing preferences which saw 9 percent of customers opt-in to communications which the company now plans to roll out across the different sites it owns.